Certain charities exist in the U.S. that are nearly universally known. People have heard of these charities, know what they do, and have possibly donated to them in the past. These charities might include Make-A-Wish, Salvation Army, The American Cancer Society, and Goodwill. While these charities do a lot of good and support great causes, there are also many lesser-known charities that also provide awesome services. Here’s a list of smaller charities that have received stellar ratings on Charity Navigator, which evaluates how well a charity uses their finances and how accountable they are with reporting information.
India Development and Relief Fund
This charity is based in Maryland and focuses on providing “support for programs that improve education, healthcare, women empowerment, governance, and eco-friendly livelihoods at grassroots level all across India, and Nepal.” The organization currently focuses on assisting those living in Nepal who were affected by the devastating earthquakes that recently occurred.
This foundation runs the Sunshine Project, which allows researchers and doctors to work together with the singular goal of treating childhood cancer, a fairly novel approach. They have been able to develop less toxic drugs that may help children whose treatment wasn’t previously effective. The foundation also funds a lot of research around pediatric cancer.
The purpose of this charity is to train wounded veteran and law enforcement service dogs. They accomplish this goal by giving puppies to inmates, who raise and train the dogs from the age of 8 to 24 weeks. The dogs are then placed with wounded veterans at no cost. Around 800 puppies have been trained since 1997.
Alpha House assists homeless mothers or pregnant women who are in crisis and do not have much support to care for themselves and their children. The charity offers health care, housing, parenting classes, education, and assistance in developing skills that allow these mothers to be self-sufficient.
Better Basics strives to encourage literacy with at-risk children in the Birmingham, Alabama area. They run intervention and education programs, in addition to handing out free books to local children. Last year, over 80,000 books were donated to schoolchildren. Even though literacy rates in the United States are fairly high, there are still thousands of children who struggle to read.
Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide
The Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW) seeks to assist attorneys and researchers on an international level. ELAW provides these people with the resources necessary to protect the environment through passing legislation or upholding that which is already in place. More than 300 scientists and lawyers spread throughout 70 countries are a part of ELAW.
